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What happens when energy is converted from one form to another? This free one-hour professional development video for K-8 teachers explores the topic through examples of conversion between potential and kinetic energy. The video is designed so that teachers come away with an understanding that will help them engage students in their own explorations.

Editor's Note: This resources offer excellent support for teachers to update content knowledge in energy conservation, important to meet revised science curriculum standards being adopted by many states.

This collection is part of a larger set of video workshops published and maintained by the Annenberg Foundation. Other workshop topics in physical science include Forces and Motion, Chemistry, and Light.

Standards (4)

AAAS Benchmark Alignments (2008 Version)

4. The Physical Setting

4E. Energy Transformations

6-8: 4E/M1. Whenever energy appears in one place, it must have disappeared from another. Whenever energy is lost from somewhere, it must have gone somewhere else. Sometimes when energy appears to be lost, it actually has been transferred to a system that is so large that the effect of the transferred energy is imperceptible.

6-8: 4E/M2. Energy can be transferred from one system to another (or from a system to its environment) in different ways: 1) thermally, when a warmer object is in contact with a cooler one; 2) mechanically, when two objects push or pull on each other over a distance; 3) electrically, when an electrical source such as a battery or generator is connected in a complete circuit to an electrical device; or 4) by electromagnetic waves.

6-8: 4E/M4. Energy appears in different forms and can be transformed within a system. Motion energy is associated with the speed of an object. Thermal energy is associated with the temperature of an object. Gravitational energy is associated with the height of an object above a reference point. Elastic energy is associated with the stretching or compressing of an elastic object. Chemical energy is associated with the composition of a substance. Electrical energy is associated with an electric current in a circuit. Light energy is associated with the frequency of electromagnetic waves.

11. Common Themes

11A. Systems

6-8: 11A/M2. Thinking about things as systems means looking for how every part relates to others. The output from one part of a system (which can include material, energy, or information) can become the input to other parts. Such feedback can serve to control what goes on in the system as a whole.

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